Dear Ken: Tell us something about actor Colin Farrell, star of the “Total Recall” remake.

Farrell, 36, was born in Dublin, Ireland, where his mum was a housewife and his dad a professional football player with the Dublin Shamrocks who also owned a company that imported and exported canned goods. Farrell studied at the Gaiety School of Acting before getting the role of Danny Byrne in the BBC series “Ballykissangel” in 1998. He got his first film lead role in 2000 in “Tigerland” and hasn’t looked back. Among his other movies are “American Outlaws,” “Daredevil,” “Phone Booth,” “S.W.A.T.,” “The Recruit,” “Minority Report,” “Intermission,” “Alexander,” “The New World,” “Miami Vice,” “In Bruges,” “Crazy Heart,” “Fright Night” and “Horrible Bosses.” Whew, is he busy or what? Later this year, he stars in “Seven Pyschopaths.” The father of two kiddos was a friend of Elizabeth Taylor and read a poem that she had pre-selected at her funeral.

Dear Ken: Didn’t Richard Pryor star in a baseball film, a comedy, about the Negro baseball leagues? What was the title and who else starred?

Your movie is “The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings” from 1976. The cast also featured Billy Dee Williams in the title role (Bingo Long was based on Satchel Paige), James Earl Jones and Stan Shaw. Set in the 1930s, the film came from the William Brashler novel of the same title, and Motown honcho Berry Gordy was a co-producer.

Dear Ken: What were The Shirelles’ biggest hits?

The first African-American girl group to top the “Billboard” charts (with “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”) was composed of Shirley Owens, Doris Coley, Addie Harris and Beverly Lee, four teenage girls from Passaic, N.J. Their other major hits include “Tonight’s the Night,” “Dedicated to the One I Love,” “Mama Said,” “Baby It’s You,” “Soldier Boy” and “Foolish Little Girl.”

Dear Ken: Was Col. Sanders the fried chicken king’s real name? How old did he live to be?

Harland David Sanders was born in 1890 near Henryville, Ind., and died of pneumonia at 90 in 1980 in Louisville, Ky. He began his path to becoming a millionaire when he opened a gas station in 1930 in Corbin, Ky., where he fed his customers his home-cooked, finger-licking good chicken, ham and steaks. In 1935, Kentucky Gov. Ruby Laffoon awarded him the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel,” and the name, just like his fried chicken, has stuck. KFC boasts that it serves more than 12 million customers daily around the world. Glad I ain’t the one plucking their chickens.

If you have a trivia question about actors, singers, movies, TV shows or pop culture, e-mail your query to Ken Beck at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it